werewolfest

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The above image is an excerpt of pages 172-173 from Kate Bornstein’s book Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws. New York: Seven Stories, 2006.

I’d describe it as a survival handbook particularly meant for queer teens and other people who don’t fit in and so are fighting for their lives in a hostile, bigoted society. Some of the book’s suggestions for things to do that are better than destroying yourself seem strange or scary. Throughout, though, the book’s one rule is “Don’t be mean.” That’s important context, because that shows this excerpt about being a frightening monster is NOT saying to be cruel or harm others.

I recommend the book to anyone who thinks that sounds useful. Here is the book’s WorldCat listing, which you can use to see if a copy is available at a library near you. Or you can buy it as a print book or eBook directly from the publisher’s site. Or from whatever bookstore you like; bonus points if you can support a small local bookstore that’s worker-owned, feminist, or queer, since those are good community spaces to keep around. I’m not affiliated.

Transcript of the excerpt:

The heading says

“52. BECOME A MORE FRIGHTENING MONSTER THAN THE ONE THEY THINK YOU ARE.”

The icons under the heading indicate that this 52nd alternative to suicide has:

a low-medium difficulty level (as tricky as riding a cow)

a medium safety rating (three hearts, two skulls)

a medium-high effectiveness rating (three umbrellas)

a morality rating of G for General (meaning it’s something you could do in front of your grandma)

“Keywords: mischief, delight, magic”

For decoration, there’s an antique illustration of a costumed dancer wearing a horse tail and mane.

The body text says:

“If people knew the real you, would they run screaming from the room? Well, whatever kind of monster they think you are, it’s probably safe to say, you’re really much more terrifying. Sometimes we like to look freaky. Sometimes we like to blend in. It’s our choice. But shifting from one to another keeps people from figuring out who or what we are.

“The cultural monster here at the turn of the century is the shape-shifter. Being an outsider isn’t what makes us monstrous. We are monsters because we’re so good at either revealing our monstrosity, or keeping it hidden when we want to.

“It’s when we become something the über-culture can’t quite put its finger on that we know we’re being a worse monster than the one they think we are. In this culture, that’s a crime. You have to match your photo ID. So, go ahead. Be a chameleon. Enjoy yourself. Play safe, and try not to scare the little children.

“EXTRA CREDIT: Write an essay, poem, recipe, film or performance piece on this question: if a culture’s monsters reflect its greatest fears, what does it say about über-American culture that its monsters are for the most part shape-shifters and mutants?”

Image description ends.

#I love this… #to read

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it’s leg day!

this weekend, i’ve attached 100+ legs 😮‍💨 here’s one of the little planters!

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more bugs more drinking

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it's so cringe how every song on the radio by a woman is about how good she is at having sex. id make a song about being ass at sex. i twist the dick like a pretzel and bite it off that's what id sing

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I regularly have dreams I refer to as "Big Luca Dreams", wherein my dog Luca is very big. They are my favorite dreams.

This is how big Luca is in the Big Luca Dreams

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Watching my toddler figure out how to language is fascinating. Yesterday we were stumped when he kept insisting there was a “Lego winner” behind his bookshelf - it turned out to be a little Lego trophy cup. Not knowing the word for “trophy”, he’d extrapolated a word for “thing you can win”. And then, just now, he held up his empty milk container and said, “Mummy? It’s not rubbish. It’s allowed to be a bottle.” - meaning, effectively, “I want this. Don’t throw it away.” But to an adult ear, there’s something quite lovely about “it’s allowed to be a bottle,” as if we’re acknowledging that the object is entitled to keep its title even in the absence of the original function.

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A Treasured Treasury of Beloved Characters (2024).

Wool felt, cotton lawn, strawboard, embroidery & poly cotton thread, recycled PET stuffing, armature wire, plastic eyes.

Here is a collection of characters I met when I was small, all of whom have stayed with me every day since. They are housed, stitched and squished in this felt book, akin to their arrangement in my brain.

Posters available here.

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Vintage Porcelain Covered With Hand-Painted Ants by La Philie

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ONE HOUR AGO: "i would imagine there is a very high likelihood i will be fired today." indiana university's associate dean for graduate education spoke out against the university's allowance of a violent police response (including snipers stationed on a rooftop) to students' gaza solidarity encampment

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some of my favorite replies to this tweet. happy lesbian visibility week!

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I have friends at Indiana University and they've been saying there are snipers on IU Bloomington campus. And theres a bunch of cops everywhere. This is wild.

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Among those arrested in Atlanta today were Noelle McAfee, Chair of the Philosophy Department at Emory University. You can hear her ask the PhD student taking the video:

“Can you call the Philosophy Department office and tell them I’ve been arrested?...I’m Noelle McAfee, I’m Chair of the Philosophy Department”

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This is quite literally textbook fascism